Bravo's Top Chef franchise is one of the network's flagship programs, but it has laid the cooking on a little thick this year. Immediately after another technically proficient but drama-free season of Top Chef: Masters, the extremely underwhelming Top Chef: DC premiered. The weakest season in the show's history was followed by another spinoff, Top Chef: Just Desserts, which had to have set a statistical record for amount of crying per episode. I've been a fervent Top Chefian for years now, but I couldn't finish Top Chef: Just Desserts. The fun wasn't there anymore. Bravo seems to feel that the series has lagged, too, hence Wednesday's premiere of Top Chef: All-Stars. If they're looking to freshen up the series, they've done a good job, since the cast is absolutely loaded with talent. Even better, they've brought on Anthony Bourdain as a judge. I'm stoked. Let's handicap this race.
1. Richard
2. Angelo
3. Carla
4. Antonia
5. Jennifer
6. Dale T.
7. Tre
8. Tiffany
9. Fabio
10. Marcel
11. Dale L.
12. Casey
13. Elia
14. Tiffani
15. Stephen
16. Jamie
17. Mike
18. Spike
Admittedly, I'm making educated guesses with Tiffani and Stephen since I never saw the first season. It's pretty clear that Mike and Spike are the lesser of the cheftestants by a country mile. Conversely, it's clear that Richard and Angelo are the cream of the crop. Virtually everyone else is a wildcard. Will Dale Talde keep his temper? Will Tre redeem himself? Can chokers like Carla and Jennifer regain their swagger?
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
The Walking Dead - "Guts"
It was only inevitable that there would be a drop-off in quality between the first episode of The Walking Dead and the second. Frank Darabont doesn't just direct his own script on a basic cable show every day. His presence aside, the pilot was a stripped-down, spartan, effective example of storytelling. Zombie hordes aside, Rick Grimes was the only character onscreen for roughly half of the episode, and he spent most of the other half with only two other characters (one of whom was played by Lennie James, and you can't go wrong with Lennie James). Grimes doesn't have the same magnetism that Tony Soprano or Don Draper did in their premieres, but he's a capable dramatic center, and two-or-three person scenes are generally strong ones.
"Guts" more or less doubles the number of Walking Dead characters, but to little effect. Plucky young Glenn is the only one who shows immediate potential; most of the others are still undeveloped, with two exceptions. There's some blonde woman I don't care much about, and then there's Merle Dixon. It's no stretch of the imagination that a survivor of a zombie apocalypse has lost his cool, but Merle is a raving lunatic in addition to being racist, sexist, and a generally terrible human being overall. It's not that I have a problem with the introduction of an instigator, since they're reliable and somewhat necessary archetypes for zombie movies. But Merle's clashes with T-Dog (himself an uninspiring character) are depressingly cliche. Black/white tensions have been a staple of zombie films since the first Living Dead film and they're becoming old hat. Why not have Merle hate Mexicans? Or have a gay character for him to play off of? I'm not asking the show to reinvent the wheel, just to take a familiar trope in a new direction.
Things improved once Rick and Glenn enacted their bonkers escape plan, which provided an exciting finish to the episode. The less said the better about Rick's wife and the rest of the crew at the Survivalist Trailer Park. That's partially my bias against Dr. Sara Tancredi but even then the scenes are just treading plot water for when the two bands of survivors reunite.
I still have high hopes for the show, of course, and most of these new characters will either be thoughtfully fleshed out or become zombie bait. But the mere presence of Merle is a very bad omen. That kind of shit wouldn't fly on Mad Men. This is AMC, I expect more.
"Guts" more or less doubles the number of Walking Dead characters, but to little effect. Plucky young Glenn is the only one who shows immediate potential; most of the others are still undeveloped, with two exceptions. There's some blonde woman I don't care much about, and then there's Merle Dixon. It's no stretch of the imagination that a survivor of a zombie apocalypse has lost his cool, but Merle is a raving lunatic in addition to being racist, sexist, and a generally terrible human being overall. It's not that I have a problem with the introduction of an instigator, since they're reliable and somewhat necessary archetypes for zombie movies. But Merle's clashes with T-Dog (himself an uninspiring character) are depressingly cliche. Black/white tensions have been a staple of zombie films since the first Living Dead film and they're becoming old hat. Why not have Merle hate Mexicans? Or have a gay character for him to play off of? I'm not asking the show to reinvent the wheel, just to take a familiar trope in a new direction.
Things improved once Rick and Glenn enacted their bonkers escape plan, which provided an exciting finish to the episode. The less said the better about Rick's wife and the rest of the crew at the Survivalist Trailer Park. That's partially my bias against Dr. Sara Tancredi but even then the scenes are just treading plot water for when the two bands of survivors reunite.
I still have high hopes for the show, of course, and most of these new characters will either be thoughtfully fleshed out or become zombie bait. But the mere presence of Merle is a very bad omen. That kind of shit wouldn't fly on Mad Men. This is AMC, I expect more.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Halloween Horrorpocalypse: television edition
The Rocky Horror Glee Show: I watched the first few episodes of Glee last year and gave up on it; mentioning all of its faults would distract from the task at hand but its largest is that it's wildly inconsistent (for an extremely in-depth examination of the subject, see here). One of the show's strengths, however, is that it's able to do a lot of gimmick episodes that draw in viewers who otherwise wouldn't watch. I never saw the episode centered around Lady Gaga, although I was slightly intrigued by it, but a seasonally appropriate episode riffing on Rocky Horror seemed too good to pass up. Besides, all the kids these days like Glee, and I'm hip too, right?
However, the premise of the episode is shaky in and of itself, since there is no way that a high school, especially one in a small conservative town, would ever produce The Rocky Horror Show. The episode does address the controversy, but never in a satisfying way, because as usual Glee can't decide whether it's grounded in an actual high school or a musical fantasy land. The audience is supposed to accept that a school can put on an edited version of Rocky Horror, in approximately one week, and the boyfriend of a faculty member can get a part just because it's convenient. You can't do that and then have a serious subplot about male body image, which was shoved to the side and bungled anyway (earnestness is not the show's strong suit, so the upcoming "very special episode" about bullying will probably set the gay rights movement back a century). The show doesn't have the guts to explain why Rocky Horror pushes the envelope in the first place, merely relying on that phrase and thereby rendering it meaningless. Meanwhile, the protagonist (Mr. Schu) is a prick and the woman who is the show's trademark voice of insanity (Sue Sylvester), a characteristic reinforced at the beginning of the episode, is the voice of reason at its end.
As for the adaptation of Rocky Horror itself, the musical numbers are mostly passable, albeit a little overproduced sometimes (another Glee hallmark). Nothing stands out until John Stamos' surprisingly fun rendition of "Whatever Happened to Saturday Night?" I was distracted throughout Amber Riley's "Sweet Transvestite;" it's a potentially interesting take on the show to have Frank N. Furter played by a woman, but in that case, shouldn't she be a drag king? I liked Jayma Mays' version of "Touch-a Touch-a Touch-a Touch Me" although I may be a bit biased because she's my second-favorite redhead on televison (#1 is Christina Hendricks, obvs). The climactic rendition of "Time Warp," sadly, was merely okay. I will say that Chris Colfer makes for an excellent Riff Raff, and Heather Morris' Columbia makes me think "how *you* doin'?"
The Walking Dead: I'll watch anything that's zombie-related, but put it on AMC and I get extra excited. Even better - while all zombie films must inevitably end, The Walking Dead, as a series, can continue for as long as it is renewed. Jericho blew it as an extended examination of the post-apocalypse, so I'm hoping this show doesn't disappoint.
It's hard to judge a series as a whole by its pilot, but the premiere of The Walking Dead is stellar. There's little here we haven't seen in countless zombie films before it, but solid execution overcomes any narrative shortcomings. There is one new idea that I hope will be explored further in upcoming episodes: sympathy for the undead. Also, Lennie James gets a large chunk of screen time and you can't go wrong with Lennie James.
Community: I've never seen an episode of Community before, although I've heard nothing but good things. I'd been holding out for the first season to appear on Netflix's instant viewing (c'mon guys, pleeeease?) but this year's Halloween episode seems like a good point to dive in. The plot, in which a zombie-like infection strikes during a holiday party, cribs from so many zombie movies that it could almost function as a standalone short film, but the individual characters get enough attention that I could probably understand their relationships to each other in following episodes. There's also Aliens references and an ABBA soundtrack. How can you lose? (It will be interesting to see if Community, unlike Glee, commits to its "anything goes" universe or if it tries for occasional misguided earnest realism. Perhaps it will split a happy medium, like in The Office or 30 Rock, where effective dramatic moments are introduced because they come from established character relationships and not randomly introduced plot points.)
However, the premise of the episode is shaky in and of itself, since there is no way that a high school, especially one in a small conservative town, would ever produce The Rocky Horror Show. The episode does address the controversy, but never in a satisfying way, because as usual Glee can't decide whether it's grounded in an actual high school or a musical fantasy land. The audience is supposed to accept that a school can put on an edited version of Rocky Horror, in approximately one week, and the boyfriend of a faculty member can get a part just because it's convenient. You can't do that and then have a serious subplot about male body image, which was shoved to the side and bungled anyway (earnestness is not the show's strong suit, so the upcoming "very special episode" about bullying will probably set the gay rights movement back a century). The show doesn't have the guts to explain why Rocky Horror pushes the envelope in the first place, merely relying on that phrase and thereby rendering it meaningless. Meanwhile, the protagonist (Mr. Schu) is a prick and the woman who is the show's trademark voice of insanity (Sue Sylvester), a characteristic reinforced at the beginning of the episode, is the voice of reason at its end.
As for the adaptation of Rocky Horror itself, the musical numbers are mostly passable, albeit a little overproduced sometimes (another Glee hallmark). Nothing stands out until John Stamos' surprisingly fun rendition of "Whatever Happened to Saturday Night?" I was distracted throughout Amber Riley's "Sweet Transvestite;" it's a potentially interesting take on the show to have Frank N. Furter played by a woman, but in that case, shouldn't she be a drag king? I liked Jayma Mays' version of "Touch-a Touch-a Touch-a Touch Me" although I may be a bit biased because she's my second-favorite redhead on televison (#1 is Christina Hendricks, obvs). The climactic rendition of "Time Warp," sadly, was merely okay. I will say that Chris Colfer makes for an excellent Riff Raff, and Heather Morris' Columbia makes me think "how *you* doin'?"
The Walking Dead: I'll watch anything that's zombie-related, but put it on AMC and I get extra excited. Even better - while all zombie films must inevitably end, The Walking Dead, as a series, can continue for as long as it is renewed. Jericho blew it as an extended examination of the post-apocalypse, so I'm hoping this show doesn't disappoint.
It's hard to judge a series as a whole by its pilot, but the premiere of The Walking Dead is stellar. There's little here we haven't seen in countless zombie films before it, but solid execution overcomes any narrative shortcomings. There is one new idea that I hope will be explored further in upcoming episodes: sympathy for the undead. Also, Lennie James gets a large chunk of screen time and you can't go wrong with Lennie James.
Community: I've never seen an episode of Community before, although I've heard nothing but good things. I'd been holding out for the first season to appear on Netflix's instant viewing (c'mon guys, pleeeease?) but this year's Halloween episode seems like a good point to dive in. The plot, in which a zombie-like infection strikes during a holiday party, cribs from so many zombie movies that it could almost function as a standalone short film, but the individual characters get enough attention that I could probably understand their relationships to each other in following episodes. There's also Aliens references and an ABBA soundtrack. How can you lose? (It will be interesting to see if Community, unlike Glee, commits to its "anything goes" universe or if it tries for occasional misguided earnest realism. Perhaps it will split a happy medium, like in The Office or 30 Rock, where effective dramatic moments are introduced because they come from established character relationships and not randomly introduced plot points.)
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